Ryan Good, Alex Lavis, Matilda Robb, Clancy Tomlinson, Adelaide Robb and Lachie Hogan

Lowesdale Public School

Winning the War Against Weeds

Creative Catchment KidsCreative Catchment Kids is an initiative of Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre. It aims to improve engagement between our funding partners and school students by providing opportunities for positive and authentic ventures that encourage students to develop creative solutions to agriculture and natural resource management issues. www.wirraminna.org/creative-catchment-kids/

Wirraminna Environmental Education CentreThe Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre is located in Burrumbuttock, north of Albury in southern NSW. Since 1995, the centre, which is adjacent to Burrumbuttock Public School, has provided opportunities for discovery and learning about the natural environment, the ecology of the local woodlands and the beauty of native plants. www.wirraminna.org

Enviro-StoriesEnviro-Stories is an innovative literacy education program that inspires learning about natural resource and catchment management issues. Developed by PeeKdesigns, this program provides students with an opportunity to publish their own stories that have been written for other kids to support learning about their local area. www.envirostories.com.au

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Winning the War Against Weeds

Authors: Ryan Good, Alex Lavis, Matilda Robb, Clancy Tomlinson, Adelaide Robb and Lachie Hogan

Teacher: Loren Filliponi

School: Lowesdale Public School

Local Land Heroes - Securing Our RegionIn 2015, students involved in the Creative Catchment Kids program researched and wrote stories about their ‘Local Land Heroes’ who are involved in pest management in the Murray and Murrumbidgee regions. These heroes are local individuals, couples, a business or industries that have made a difference in their local community by contributing to the management of pest animals and plants. The program was generously funded by Murray Local Land Services and Riverina Local Land Services.

Local Land Heroes is part of Enviro-Stories, a PeeKdesigns education program.

© 2015 Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre, www.wirraminna.org

Design by PeeKdesigns, www.peekdesigns.com.au

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Patrick ‘Paddy’ Minogue was born in Carlton, Melbourne, but has lived in the Corowa area for 17 years. He works full time as the Noxious Weed Inspector for the Corowa Shire Council and has been in this role for 10 years. He is also an active community member, volunteering as the coach for the CDHBU U14’s football team.

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Paddy’s role includes doing property inspections, council land inspections and inspections of the Murray River – which can take up to 4 weeks of hard work in a boat during summer. When Paddy sees weeds on someone’s farm, he notifies the owner and they must act upon his recommendations or face a fine.

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Corowa Shire Road Map

\\cscsbs\Public\Mapping\Workspaces\Transport\Shire Road Map A3.worLast updated: 24 June 2011

Projection: MGA Zone 55 (GDA 94)Scale: 1:200,000 @ A3

LegendState HwyState RdRegionalMajor SealedMinor SealedUrbanGravelledFormedUnformed

Shire Boundary

The Corowa Shire stretches for 2,329 square kilometres. Paddy often

drives 250-300 kilometres a day doing inspections.

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Weeds can spread in many ways. Wind and water carries the seeds away, and animals such as livestock and birds can also spread weeds. Moving machinery and vehicles are also a big problem because the seeds are collected on the tyres and then eventually dropped and grow somewhere else.

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Some of the main weeds that Paddy is trying to eradicate in the Corowa area are Chilean Needle Grass, Spiny Burrgrass, Horehound and Blackberry. These weeds steal the moisture and nutrients in the soil from other native plants.

Spiny Burrgrass is a particularly dangerous weed that affects livestock, especially sheep. The burr gets in the sheep’s eye and can blind them. It also gets into the sheep’s wool reducing its quality.

Spiny Burrgrass

BlackberryHorehound

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Chilean Needle Grass is one of the most destructive weeds in the Riverina area. Paddy is very involved in getting rid of this weed in particular. Paddy and his team spray in November, before the short window of time ends. They need to have it sprayed before the heat comes. They spray for a whole month, nonstop. Each year, they can spend up to $15,000 getting rid of Chilean Needle Grass.

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Paddy uses sprays to kill the noxious weeds. He has a spray unit on the back of his work ute. Paddy normally uses Roundup unless he needs a stronger chemical. He has to wear protective clothing, such as long gloves, boots and a mask, when he is spraying. If Paddy spots weeds on someone’s property, he advises the landholder and it is their responsibility to get rid of the weeds.

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A proactive method the shires in the Riverina are using is the Red Guide Posts campaign. This campaign was introduced to help reduce the spread of high-risk weeds. Paddy is involved in the installation of the Red Guide Posts for the Corowa Shire area.

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Two posts separate the area where the weed is located. One says ‘start’ and the other says ‘end’. Civilians are urged not to park or drive between these posts, because if they collect the weeds on their tyres they will spread them to another location.

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The campaign started about 4 years ago and has won a State Weed Management Award for Local Government Excellence. It has been advertised by TV, radio, window stickers, fact sheets, signs and at events like the Henty Machinery Field Days.

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Thanks to Paddy’s hard work in installing the Red Guide Posts and spraying the weed infestations, Corowa Shire is on its way to winning the war against weeds.

Ryan Good, Alex Lavis, Matilda Robb, Clancy Tomlinson, Adelaide Robb and Lachie Hogan

2015 Year 3-6, Lowesdale Public School

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CONGRATULATIONSWirraminna Environmental Education Centre and

the Creative Catchment Kids Program won the 2015 NSW Junior Landcare Team Award and will be competing in the 2016 National Landcare Awards.